Dynamic complexity of moral motivation: the roles of duty and self-interest

Insights from moral philosophy are identified and presented to explicate the conception of moral motivation as a complex dynamic system based on multiple motivational tendencies that have competitive and cooperative relationships with each other. As part of process-relational metatheory, the perspective of complex dynamic systems is applied. Self-interest and duty are conceptualized as motivational tendencies. Two specific forms of duty are examined: justice as duty and care as duty. The psychological construction and regulation of duty and self-interest are discussed as fundamental processes in the dynamic system of moral motivation. This view has important theoretical and practical implications in terms of understanding and addressing real-life moral complexity.